Loughborough Academics develop robots to care for elderly

Academics said the scheme could reduce healthcare burdens

Robots which look after frail elderly people in their homes are being developed by academics.

The I'M-ACTIVE project is being worked on by experts at Loughborough University, in Leicestershire.

The work looks at ways to install sensors to monitor vulnerable people, while getting robots to perform a range of care tasks and interact with them.

The university said it hoped the technology would improve the quality of life of older people.

Prof Massimiliano Zecca, the university's project lead and an expert in healthcare technology in the School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, said: "The research is essential to reduce the burden on healthcare systems."

NHS England has estimated that 3% of those aged 65 and older are severely frail and another 12% are moderately frail, totalling around 1.8 million people in the UK.

'Improve wellbeing'

Prof Zecca said: "We are facing the dual challenge of accurately measuring functional and cognitive parameters in the home environment, which is the truest reflection of an older person's abilities, and also developing a system that users will be willing to have in their homes.

"This entails designing and developing a user-friendly system that satisfies their needs and preferences.

"We are confident that the results of I'M-ACTIVE will pave the way for new intervention options that can help frail elderly individuals maintain an active lifestyle and improve their social and emotional wellbeing."

The Loughborough team is working with counterparts from Sheffield Hallam University and Nottingham Trent University.

The research is being funded by the government-backed UK Research and Innovation.